August 5, 2023 – Jackson, WI – The Village of Jackson has a new clerk as Anastasia Gonstead will replace Jilline Dobratz who, according to Village administrator Jen Keller “voluntarily resigned June 1, 2023.” Click HERE to see results of an open records request regarding J. Dobratz exit from the Village of Jackson.
Gonstead, 38, has been the clerk in Mayville since January 2023.
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Gonstead has a bit of experience within municipal government. She worked part time for the Mayville Police Department as an administrative assistant. She worked in child support for Fond du Lac County and worked in the Treasurer’s Office in Fond du Lac County as a legal secretary before stepping into the private sector and working in foreclosure law.
As a clerk in Mayville, Gonstead handled her first election within a month of being hired.
“I hit the ground running on that one,” she said.
Gonstead said she is not a certified clerk, but she is going through a 4-year certification program in Green Bay, WI. Her predecessor Dobratz was certified in October 2021. According to documents in the open records request Dobratz “attained designation of a Wisconsin Certified Professional Clerk.”
Dobratz was also a Fellow of the Athenian Leadership Society of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.
Gonstead said she was made aware of the clerk’s opening in Jackson, WI and received an email from Village Administrator Jen Keller. “She let me know there was an opening, and I was also notified by some Mayville residents who work out there,” said Gonstead.
“As a newer clerk, I believe this opportunity will allow me to focus on getting all the duties of the clerk properly learned, without having to kind of dabble in a bunch of other stuff to try to help keep things functioning,” Gonstead said.
As far as a skillset, Gonstead said before starting in Mayville in January 2023 with no clerk experience she did have a 7-day overlap with the previous clerk and she is just “one of those people who can just jump in and figure it out.”
“My first election was a month after I was hired. I’m one of those people who have enough of a varied background that I know my resources, I know how to get in and figure it out and ask questions. I’m not afraid to do the hard work to get things where they need to go,” she said.
Gonstead will work in Mayville through August 11, 2023, and start in the Village of Jackson on August 14, 2023.
On a history note: There have been multiple changes in various clerk positions in Washington County, WI over the last year.
– In Hartford, Wi – Shanna Kreilkamp of Rubicon was hired February 28, 2023, to replace Lori Hetzel as she retired after 45 years on the job.
– In West Bend, Wi – Lizbet Santana was hired June 2022 after spending six months at the Wisconsin Election Commission. West Bend had been without a head clerk for seven months following the departure of Stephanie Justman in November 2021. Within the past month both deputy clerks stepped down from West Bend clerk’s office and a hiring process is underway for one deputy clerk and one office person.
– In Germantown, WI – Erin Hirn is currently interim clerk. She is head of Human Resources in the Village of Germantown but stepped in June 2023. Head clerk Deanna Braunschweig left in March 2023 to take a job as clerk/treasured in the Village of Chenequa in neighboring Waukesha County. Germantown is hoping to fill its head clerk position during its meeting August 21, 2023. Casey Miller, who left West Bend, is currently deputy clerk in Germantown. She started in July 2023.
– In Campbellsport, WI – Angel Rettler took over as head clerk in June 2023. Rettler had been deputy clerk/treasurer in Germantown, WI.
- The town of Polk, WI – Alison Pecha is the clerk in the Town of Polk. Pecha was formerly the clerk in the Town of Herman in neighboring Dodge County. Pecha started in October 2021 after clerk Sandy Rotar died unexpectedly August 30, 2021 at the age of 50.
- A reminder November 5, 2024 is the next U.S. presidential election.
